Brewdog Jack Hammer (Bottle)

A rare re-review of sorts now, this one is me going back to a beer that I’ve had on a number of occasions now and always enjoyed it after initially trying it on-tap at Brewdog Aberdeen when it was still a prototype offering back in January 2013 but since I’ve always felt I rushed that particular review I though I should give it another go now. I was further inspired by the fact that Brewdog are now in the process of releasing a Jack Hammer inspired series of beers that began with the Monk Hammer offering recently and I thought that would be a good excuse to give their original another try.Since this one is my second review of the same beer, I’ll do my best to keep things short here and get straight on with the review to see if my tastes have changes much since I first tried this.

Appearance (4/5):The beer pours a light amber colour and the body is a very clear on with quite a few fine bubbles rising to the surface as well. The head is a good one, sitting just over a centimetre tall and holding well as a white, foamy one over the opening couple of minutes before eventually settling as a creamy looking, quarter centimetre head that covers the surface of the beer well.Aroma (8/10): Quite a strong bitterness with a good combination of pine hops and grapefruit to kick things off before some touches of citrus start to come through as we get closer to the middle. It’s definitely a fresh nose with some orange and tropical fruit notes in there as well, some peach and mango comes through too though. Towards the end there is a faint touch of caramel sweetness as well but the hops and bitterness are definitely what dominate throughout.Taste (9/10): Quite a strong, resinous pine taste with a lot of citrus and grapefruit flavours to open things up. This one was quite an intense beer with some tropical fruits coming through around the middle but they seemed to come through slightly lighter than with the nose thanks to the pine and grapefruit grabbing your attention first. Towards the end where was an oily bitterness and some faint caramel that matched the nose well but yet again the hops dominated with this one and the flavour was excellent.Palate (4/5): Quite a fresh but medium bodied beer, this one was intensely bitter from the start and it had quite an oily feel to it too for the most part. There was a slight tang in there and towards the end it seemed quite dry with a lingering bitterness at the end that stayed with you. It seemed like a well carbonated offering that was easy to drink despite the strength and the strong bitterness with the alcohol content well hidden too; excellent stuff.

Overall (18/20): This one is a beer that sums up what Brewdog are all about for me, excellent IPA’s. The beer opened up with some strong hops and tonnes of resinous pine that got your attention from the very start before some lighter tropical fruits and citrus started to come through. The beer hinted at some sweetness towards the end of both the nose and the taste but the hops won the day really and the beer was an excellent one as a result. I really enjoyed revisiting this one, it went down a lot better this time than it did when I first tried it a couple of years ago and this is why it’s a beer I always find myself going back to when I get the chance; a great beer all round and a must try.